The mob came down the road; it came – a group of infuriated men – roaring; dancing; kicking; at everything in their way. The men cried, “Get them all! The cowards have to pay with their blood.” Many of them were drunk. They did not know what they were doing. The girl heard them come towards the house. She was …

Fight, Manju, Fight!: Sigrun Srivastav – Manjula Parelkar knew she was no Hussain. She could never be, not with those hands of hers, those claw-like malformed fingers, just two of them, two on each hand. Why her hands too? Wasn’t it enough that her feet were deformed; ending in two massive moon-shaped toes pointing at each other, the hard nails …

“Vijaylakshmi”, called out the teacher of Class VI B, nodding at the girl seated in the middle of the room, “please come here”. The girl in the candy-striped uniform rose, black eyes flickering nervously. Her thick, frizzy hair was pulled tightly back into a long, heavy plait but wisps of hair had escaped and framed her face in a halo …